Covered hopper car

ABSTRACT

A covered hopper car having an open car body pivotally supporting between opened and closed positions a releasably lockable roof which may be hinged from either side while the other side is unhinged attendant to dumping a load through the open roof car body, the car body having mounted on each of its sides a plurality of releasable locking hinges connected to respective hinge structures on each of the car roof sides, each car body releasable hinge being provided with release plungers biased to the locked position and releasable by car rotating structure whereby one side of the roof moves away from the car during rotation and the other side remains hinged to permit the contents in the car body to fall outwardly therefrom.

Umted States Patent [151 3,677,196

Schuller 1451 July 18, 1972 [54] COVERED HOPPER CAR PrimaryExaminer-Drayton E. Hoffman [72] Inventor. James J. Schuller, Dolton,Ill. Assistant Examiner mchmd A Bcnsch [73] Assignee: PullmanIncorporated, Chicago, Ill, Attorney-Hilmond O. Vogel and Wayne MOlTiSRussell [22] Filed: Dec. 19, I969 ABSTRACT [21 1 Appl' 886,506 A coveredhopper car having an open car body pivotally supporting between openedand closed positions a releasably 52 us. c1. ..1o/377, 52/45 292/175lmkable which may be hinged either Side While [51] In. 0| a 39/00 otherside is unhinged attendant to dumping a load through [58] Field 61Search ..105/377; 52/45, 16/47; w the i "wumed 292/175 of its sides aplurality of releasable loclung hinges connected to respective hingestructures on each of the car roof sides, each car body releasable hingebeing provided with release [56] defences Cited plungers biased to thelocked position and releasable by car UNITED STATES PATENTS rotatingstructure whereby one side of the roof moves away from the car duringrotation and the other side remains hinged 3,461,818 8/1969 Sanders eta] ..105/377 to permit the contents in the body to fan outwardly1,404,557 1/1922 Stahl ..292/175 therefrom 1,689,101 10/1928 Beck.......292/l 1,675,591 7/1928 Bell ..292/ 4 Claims, 5 Drawing figures C" 2.1-Z 3 l f a I 28 3 Patented July 18, 172

2 Sheets-Sheet l torney 8 lnventor James J..Schuller BYW%.%W

Patented July 18, 1972 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Ild Hun [ll {3 lld PIC-1.5

doms' J. Schuller y Horney COVERED HOPPER can SUMMARY It is the generalobject of this invention to provide for a pivotal releasable roofstructure for a covered hopper car.

Another object of this invention is to provide for a covered hopper carhaving a releasably lockable roof wherein there is provided means forreleasing one side edge of the roof from the associated side edge of thecar body in pivoting the car body 180 attendant to dumping the contentsout of the top of the car whereby the other side of the roof remainspivotally connected to the other side of the car body in order to pivotthereabout attendant to opening of the car roof for dumping of thecontents from the hopper car.

Another object of this invention is to provide for a covered hopper carhaving locked releasing means releasable by a rotary hopper car dumpfixture swinging the roof of the car away from the car body.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a top plan view of a coveredhopper car; FIG. 2 is a side sectional view taken along line 2-2 of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a top plan sectional view taken along line 3-3 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of the connecting portions of the roofand car body in the closed position with dotted line positionillustrating the hinging of the roof; and

FIG. 5 is a view similar to FIG. 4 but with the roof being separatedfrom the car body to illustrate the open position.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION In reference now to the Figures, there is shown ahopper car I for carrying bulk material such as wet ore. The hopper caris provided with a car body 2 and a hopper car pivotal roof section 3.The car body 2 has end walls 4 and side walls 4a and an interior 5. Thetop of the car body 2 is provided with top car portions 7 having runningboard sections 80. The roof section 3 is provided with a plurality ofcircular hatch means 8 which include a hatch cover 10. The roof isfurther provided with a roof top wall 11 on which is provided roofrunner portions 12. Hatch tie-down means 13 are provided for holding thehatch means 8 to the roof.

The invention comprises a plurality of releasably locking hinge means 14extending longitudinally on each side of the car for releasably andpivotally connecting a respective side of the roof with a respectiveside of the car body.

With reference to FIGS. 4 and 5, the roof top wall 11 includes an upperor top central roof wall section 11a and side roof section llcconnecting with the roof section 1 la and having a horizontal portion11b and a vertical downwardly extending portion lld. The roof section 11c is spaced above and connected with roof section lle which includes ahorizontal side portion 11] that is spaced below section llb and has aslight upward taper to join with steep sloped roof sheet 11g which inturn is connected with inner or central roof section llh being attachedwith sections 11a and 11b. The section 110 which is attached to the restof the roof section acts to carry the hinge pin structure of thereleasably locking hinge means l4 as will be explained below. The carbody is provided on each side with a side plate structure 15 whichincludes an upper vertical side plate portion 16 having a free uppercurved end 17 attached to the underside of roof section llf. The sideplate structure 15 further includes a horizontal plate portion 18connecting with the upright portion 16 and with a lower dependingvertical plate portion 19. The side plate structure 15 is reinforced byinner diagonal reinforcing plate 20 adjacent the hinged means 14 and tothe hinged means 14 by reinforcing plate 21. The upright side plateportion 16 is provided with an aperture 160 and the lower vertical plateportion 19 is provided with an aperture 19a.

The releasable locking hinged means 14 comprises a latched structure 22having a base boss 23 extending lengthwise of the car and having aplunger 24 extending transversely therefrom and along the underside ofthe horizontal plate portion 18 and reciprocally outwardly of theaperture 190. Extending from the boss or base member 23 is a verticalarm 25 from which projects at the top thereof and outwardly to the sideof the upper latch arm 26-reciprocably extendable through the aperture16a, the arm 26 at its lower outer end provided with tapered surface 27.A spring 28' is compressed between the back of boss 23 and the housing29 and includes a lower horizontal housing plate 29a supporting thelatched structure 22 and the spring 28. The housing portion 29b extendsupwardly from the rear of the housing plate 290 and connects with anoverhead horizontal housing portion 290 connecting with the side plateportion 17. The housing is provided with a spring retainer tab 29d onthe wall 2%, the spring 28 urging the plunger 24 outwardly of thehousing and out of the aperture 190. A latch plate 30 is mounted inupright position on the horizontal side plate portion 18 and is providedwith an aperture 31 for receiving upper latch arm 26 therethrough. Theupper end of the plunger 24 is acted on by the fixture or rotary dumperpositioner arm 32 on the car dumper to force the plunger into thehousing 29 for releasing the hinged pin 33 from its entrapment betweenupper latch arm 26 of the latch mechanism 22. The hinged pin 33 includesa horizontal rung portion 34 entrained between latch arm 26 in FIG. 4and released thereby in FIG. 5 and further is provided with a pair ofupright arms 36 connecting with the ends of the horizontal rung 34. Thearms 36 are connected to the outside roof section 11d.

Thus it is seen that there is provided a novel hinging and lockingarrangement for pivotally attaching the hopper roof to the top of thecar body. In the locked condition the roof is held fixed on the car bodyby the locking mechanism 14. When the car is rotated from an uprightposition, the pusher arm 32 of the rotary dumper positions the plunger24 inwardly of each of the locking and hinging mechanisms 14 whereby thefree side section of the roof swings inwardly by gravity about thecoupled side of the roof with the respective side of the car body.

The foregoing description and drawings merely explain and illustrate theinvention and the invention is not limited thereto, except insofar asthe appended claims are so limited, as those skilled in the art who havethe disclosure before them will be able to make modifications andvariations therein without departing from the scope of the invention.

I claim:

I. A covered hopper car having an open car body portion having a pair ofupper side plates, a removable releasably lockable pivotal roof mountedon said side plates, releasably locking and hinging means including aplurality of hinge lock structures pivotally connecting each side of theroof with a respective side plate, each lock and hinge means beingspaced longitudinally of one another along the sides of the car, each ofsaid lock and hinge structures comprising:

hinge pin means including a pair of upright longitudinally spaced-apartarms connected to the side of the roof and a lower generallyhorizontally extending latch engaging pin portion connecting with saidupright hinge arms and extending below the roof side,

a car body hinge structure mounted on said side plate and including ahousing,

a latch member in the housing,

spring means in the housing and engaging the latch member for urging thelatch member outwardly of the side of the car,

said latch member including a base slidable in the housing and alaterally extending plunger reciprocable outwardly of the side of thecar through an aperture in the side plate,

a vertical arm portion connecting with the base and having an upperhorizontally projecting latch arm reciprocably extendable through asecond aperture in the side plate,

an upright latch plate mounted on the side plate and spaced laterallyoutwardly of the housing and having an aperture for the latch armwhereby the spring means urges the latch arm through the vertical sideplate aperture and the laterally spaced upright latch plate apertureattendant to confining the roof hinge pin portion therein and said upperlatch arm releasing said roof hinge pin portion upon depression of saidplunger inwardly of the housing by associated hopper rotating means.

2. In a hopper car a locking and hinge structure for coupling the roofof the hopper car to the top of the hopper car body side plateincluding:

a roof hinge pin depending from the side of the roof and a latch housingmounted on the car body side plate,

a latch member and spring-like means mounted in the housing and urged bythe spring outwardly of the housing,

a latch plate laterally outward of the housing,

the latch member including a guided plunger adapted to be moved inwardlyby a hopper rotation mechanism and a locking latch arm connecting withthe plunger and extendable out of the side plate and through an openingin the upright latch plate to confine the roof hinge pin therein.

3. The invention according to claim 2, and

said hinge pin including a pair of upright longitudinally spaced-apartarms connected to the side of the roof and a lower pin portionconnecting with the upright arms. 4. A locking and hinge structure forcoupling the roof of the 5 hopper car to the top of the hopper car bodyside plate including:

a roof hinge pin depending from the side of the roof and a latch housingmounted on the car body side plate,

a latch member and spring mounted in the housing and urged by the springoutwardly of the housing,

a latch plate laterally outward of the housing,

the latch member including a plunger adapted to be moved inwardly by ahopper rotation mechanism and an upper locking latch ann extendable outof the side plate and through an opening in the upright latch plate toconfine the roof hinge pin therein,

said roof including an angle portion attached thereto having an uprightportion for attachment of the depending roof hinge pin thereto tojuxtaposition the pin with respect to the locking means.

1. A covered hoPper car having an open car body portion having a pair ofupper side plates, a removable releasably lockable pivotal roof mountedon said side plates, releasably locking and hinging means including aplurality of hinge lock structures pivotally connecting each side of theroof with a respective side plate, each lock and hinge means beingspaced longitudinally of one another along the sides of the car, each ofsaid lock and hinge structures comprising: hinge pin means including apair of upright longitudinally spaced-apart arms connected to the sideof the roof and a lower generally horizontally extending latch engagingpin portion connecting with said upright hinge arms and extending belowthe roof side, a car body hinge structure mounted on said side plate andincluding a housing, a latch member in the housing, spring means in thehousing and engaging the latch member for urging the latch memberoutwardly of the side of the car, said latch member including a baseslidable in the housing and a laterally extending plunger reciprocableoutwardly of the side of the car through an aperture in the side plate,a vertical arm portion connecting with the base and having an upperhorizontally projecting latch arm reciprocably extendable through asecond aperture in the side plate, an upright latch plate mounted on theside plate and spaced laterally outwardly of the housing and having anaperture for the latch arm whereby the spring means urges the latch armthrough the vertical side plate aperture and the laterally spacedupright latch plate aperture attendant to confining the roof hinge pinportion therein and said upper latch arm releasing said roof hinge pinportion upon depression of said plunger inwardly of the housing byassociated hopper rotating means.
 2. In a hopper car a locking and hingestructure for coupling the roof of the hopper car to the top of thehopper car body side plate including: a roof hinge pin depending fromthe side of the roof and a latch housing mounted on the car body sideplate, a latch member and spring-like means mounted in the housing andurged by the spring outwardly of the housing, a latch plate laterallyoutward of the housing, the latch member including a guided plungeradapted to be moved inwardly by a hopper rotation mechanism and alocking latch arm connecting with the plunger and extendable out of theside plate and through an opening in the upright latch plate to confinethe roof hinge pin therein.
 3. The invention according to claim 2, andsaid hinge pin including a pair of upright longitudinally spaced-apartarms connected to the side of the roof and a lower pin portionconnecting with the upright arms.
 4. A locking and hinge structure forcoupling the roof of the hopper car to the top of the hopper car bodyside plate including: a roof hinge pin depending from the side of theroof and a latch housing mounted on the car body side plate, a latchmember and spring mounted in the housing and urged by the springoutwardly of the housing, a latch plate laterally outward of thehousing, the latch member including a plunger adapted to be movedinwardly by a hopper rotation mechanism and an upper locking latch armextendable out of the side plate and through an opening in the uprightlatch plate to confine the roof hinge pin therein, said roof includingan angle portion attached thereto having an upright portion forattachment of the depending roof hinge pin thereto to juxtaposition thepin with respect to the locking means.